Starlin Castro To The New York Yankees

The New York Yankees appear to be the beneficiary of the Chicago Cubs signing free agent Ben Zobristto a free agent contract as the Yankees and Cubs have agreed to a deal that will send the once highly touted prospect Starlin Castro to the Yankees.

The move for the Cubs frees up the middle infield for the arrival of Zobrist to re-unite with former Manager Joe Maddon. Zobrist will man 2nd base for the Cubs and Addison Russellwill be the full-time shortstop going forward for the Cubs now that Castro is out of the North Side of Chicago. Fans were growing impatient with Starlin Castro’s game as a whole. He isn’t the greatest offensive player and his defense is only slightly above average according to Fangraphs dWAR. This solidifies the middle of the infield for the Cubs.

For the New York Yankees, the move finally gets them a 2nd baseman who’s been missing since the departure of Robinson Cano. Castro will take 2nd while the defensive first shortstop Didi Gregorius will have the left side of the middle infield covered. The two will likely make a nice little double play combination.

I like this move for the New York Yankees for a variety of reasons. They will finally have some stability at 2nd base and they get a young player in Castro. People tend to forget that Starlin Castro is only 25 years of age. He is also under team control until 2019 plus an option year at a reasonable price of an AAV of $8.5 million.

Castro’s best season with the Cubs came in 2012 when he was worth 3.1 wins. For his career, Castro is a .281 hitter with a .321 OBP, .316 wOBA, and 96 wRC+. He hit a career high 14 home runs in 2012 and 2014. There is some potential with his bat, but likely is a bottom of the order bat at best at his peak.

Starlin Castro should be a nice addition at the bottom of the Yankees order. He finally gives the Yankees their second right handed bat in the order and he is still very young. Hitting in the friendly confines of the American League East might get his bat going a bit too. It’s just on him to clean up his game defensively and he will be a good pickup for the Yankees.

Brendan Panikkar is a graduate of Brock University's Sport Management program. Currently, he is the Vice-President, Customer Service at North Aware. He loves all sports but baseball and football take precedent over hockey and basketball. Teams: Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Argonauts, San Francisco 49ers, Toronto Raptors